NSFW: This Week’s Must-See Art Events: Wish In One Hand

A will to change is in the air, but it’s against a backdrop of the same-old. At the New Museum, Karen Finley’s live sext paintings challenge an institutional denial of boundary-pushing work, while the Whitney has more shows of Hopper and Hockney. Klaus Biensenbach and The Jogging talk about rising waters (in their own ways), at Hyperallergic and Still House respectively. Plus, a group show of some of art’s most vocal activists addresses failure.

This week’s This American Life makes the case that environmental political movement will come from a few community members who are too loud and visible to ignore. Klaus Biesenbach may be that guy. Today, as part of Hyperallergic’s new series ArtTalk, Biesenbach will be talking about Expo 1, his ongoing initiative to get thought leaders talking about Sandy recovery, and sustainability. Complimentary drinks provided by Pernod Absinthe.

If you rely on event listings to plan your week, then go support Wagmag at their benefit. In addition to its 12 years of providing Brooklyn art coverage, Wagmag also catalogues the events for galleries that, for whatever reason, don’t list themselves on Artcards, Art Haps, or Bushwick Daily, which makes them the definitive source for Brooklyn events.

Let’s keep Momenta going another year. This year’s list of artist donors illustrates how much of a boon this place is to Bushwick– Walter Robinson, Noah Fischer, Regina Rex to name a few– and a ticket guarantees you’ll take home one work of art. They’ll also have a silent auction with Ida Applebroog, Sarah Braman, David Diao, Mark Dion, William Powhida, Hunter Reynolds, Federico Solmi, and Mickalene Thomas.

A group of activists show art addressing failure at Bullet Space, a Lower East Side squat-turned-gallery. They know their stuff; the list includes Alan Moore and Amy Westpfahl, who were heavily involved with ABC No Rio, Josh MacPhee, specializing in activism-though-printmaking, Raven Chacon of the American Indian art collective Postcommodity, Matt Bua, who makes art and writes about experimental architecture, and artist Renzo Ortega.

The Jogging takes it to the gallery. Still House is all the way down on the Red Hook waterfront, so the show “Soon” ties together that neighborhood’s impending catastrophe with the impermanent quality of work on the Jogging.

Thursday, May 23rd – Sunday, May 26th

Performance: Sext Me If You Can, New Museum6 – 9 PM, 235 BoweryFree to the general public, paintings $200+

As part of NewMu’s 1993 show, it’s been hosting a residency of the NEA 4, performance artists Karen Finley, John Fleck, Holly Hughes, and Tim Miller, whose grants were vetoed in 1990 solely on the basis of controversial subject matter. They took the NEA to court and won their grants back in 1993, but the NEA went on to fight the case in Supreme Court, and responded by ceasing its individual artist grants.

All this is to say that Finley’s inviting you to sext her your vagina this weekend so she can paint and display in the New Museum lobby. Sexters will be provided with a discrete, onsite sitting area. Paintings cost upwards of $200, payable online or at the store. 18+.